When the catalytic converter was stolen from Vanessa Reimer’s Toyota Prius in Long Beach, she thought the repair would be simple, taking a few weeks at most.
Then his local dealer delivered the bad news: the replacement part could take six months to arrive. Reimer, who is pregnant, may have a baby before her Prius gets a new catalytic converter.
“At first, I thought there was something I could do,” said Reimer, 32, a speech therapist at an elementary school, before learning there were 100 other drivers waiting in the same lot. “But there are too many people in the same situation.”
For several years, older Priuses have had the dubious distinction of being the #1 target for catalytic converter theft in California. Drivers whose converters stuck are now experiencing a second indignity: Thousands of Prius owners were ahead of them in line for the same part, and delays could stretch for months.
Thieves target hybrids because their catalytic converters have a higher concentration of precious metals compared to gas-only cars. The Prius, which was the best-selling car in California a decade ago, is an easy and lucrative target, with tens of thousands still on the road.
The theft of catalytic converters from Prius cars has been a rising trend in the city.
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The Times called the parts departments of a dozen Toyota dealerships in Southern California and asked about the wait time for a catalytic converter for a 2011 Prius. All service centers said the part was order again and it was not immediately available. Most said the wait would be more than three months, and in some cases eight or nine.
“There are too many of them being stolen, and there are thousands on order,” one employee said apologetically. Another said: “If you get in right now, you’re looking at the end of August.”
Toyota corporate representatives did not respond to questions from the Times.
Even getting a projected repair date is no guarantee, as 25-year-old Anwar Glasgow found out when his catalytic converter was stolen in January. A Toyota service center in Van Nuys said the repair of his 2012 Prius would take six months, maybe less. Now they think their car won’t be ready until October.
Glasgow’s insurance will pay to install the new part, but won’t subsidize a rental car for more than a month or total the inoperable Prius so I can buy something else.
“I’m screwed, to be honest with you,” said Glasgow, 25, an aspiring actor who now walks and skateboards 3 miles to his job as a waiter at a Mexican restaurant. Robbery “looks like you’re being kicked while you’re on the ground…it’s pretty demoralizing.”
The frequency of partial theft reports for older Priuses, a category that includes the theft of catalytic converters, increased in California by nearly 850 percent over a two-year period, according to the Highway Loss Data Institute, an organization without for profit funded by the insurance industry.
According to Police Chief Michel Moore, there has been a “marked increase” in the number of catalytic converter thefts in Los Angeles this year, with 406 more reported in the first five weeks of 2023 compared to the same time in 2022.
“I’m very surprised,” Moore told the police commission last month. The thefts can take as little as a minute, he said, and are “easy pickings” for squads looking for favorite makes and models of cars.
Fed up with thefts and long waits for replacement parts, some frustrated Prius owners are ditching their hybrids altogether.
Ryan Eason, 28, discovered his catalytic converter had been stolen from a secured garage in January when he and his fiancee got in their car to look at wedding rings.
Ryan Eason is photographed in the Arts District on March 8. Eason’s catalytic converter was stolen from his 2013 Toyota Prius while it was parked in his apartment garage in mid-January.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
A Pasadena mechanic did the job in about seven weeks, much faster than Eason’s local Toyota dealer’s estimate of six to eight months. As soon as the repair was finished, Eason drove to his parents’ house in Carlsbad and left the Prius there.
“I don’t think it’s a permanent solution,” said Eason, an attorney. “But seeing as this car is a primary target, I’ll keep it in a safe place right now so I don’t have to think about it for a while.”
There are only a few catalytic converters that the California Air Resources Board has approved for use in older Priuses, including one sold by Toyota for about $1,800, and a model from Magnaflow that comes in at about $2,800 . Both are sold out almost everywhere.
Catalytic converters have one of the longest lead times in the industry, taking four to nine months to make, said Mark Wakefield of AlixPartners, a global consulting firm that works with automotive clients.
The devices, which house porous ceramic bricks coated with precious metals, are complicated to manufacture, and it’s difficult for automakers to produce more on short notice, especially as the industry tries to recover from supply chain problems, Wakefield said. .
June 2022 photo of 112 catalytic converters seized by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in the Inland Empire.
(San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department)
When new converters arrive, automakers have to decide whether to put them in new cars or send them to the aftermarket, Wakefield said.
Making replacement parts for older cars “isn’t really the core business of the supplier,” he said. “The main business is new cars.”
Toyota doesn’t have the same wait times for all its cars, as Mark McNeill, 46, and Nara Hernandez, 44, recently learned. The couple, who live in Silver Lake, both drive Toyotas: he it’s a Highlander SUV, his a Prius.
In December, the Highlander’s catalytic converter was stolen on a rainy night. The repair took three days.
In January it was the turn of the Prius. The couple’s mechanic estimated the repair would take five months, but after two months of waiting, the time frame became seven months.
“I don’t think I’ll see my car for a year,” Hernandez said, adding that his mechanic said 60 other Priuses were ahead of them in line.
Going out without two cars would be virtually impossible with two commutes and pickups and drop-offs for their two children, the couple said.
“We were forced to make a quick decision instead of waiting for better options,” Hernandez said. They decided to buy a new car, a painful financial hit just after Christmas. Once the Prius is fixed, they plan to install a protective cage around the new precious piece.
John Jackson, a city planner and owner of a Toyota Prius whose catalytic converter was stolen last fall, waited weeks to have it replaced. He is shown in his car at his apartment complex on March 14 in Los Angeles.
(Dania Maxwell/Los Angeles Times)
In September, John Jackson, a 31-year-old city planner, had his catalytic converter slide while his car was parked on a side street in Palms. The repair took about six weeks and cost him $700, he said, including his deductible, tolls and gas for a rental car, and a shield he installed to try to protect the new catalytic converter.
“It’s happened to a few other people I know now,” Jackson said. “They came to me asking what I should do and I had to tell them, ‘Look, this is the timeline. You’re going to be without a car for months.’
Jackson said he’s leaning toward an electric car when he eventually replaces his black 2011 Prius, in part because cars without gas engines don’t have catalytic converters to steal.
In the meantime, Jackson said, automakers should do more to try to prevent such thefts, including engraving catalytic converters with vehicle identification numbers to discourage illegal resale.
A bill introduced last year in Sacramento would have required automakers to do so. The bill, sponsored by the LA County District Attorney’s office, failed in the Assembly.
Two other laws that took effect Jan. 1 require recyclers and junk dealers to have proof that their catalytic converters were obtained legally and prohibit people from buying the devices from anyone who isn’t a seller authorized
In Los Angeles, it could soon be illegal to own a catalytic converter without proof of ownership, such as a bill of sale or a note from the previous owner.
LAPD Det. Mario Santana, left, assisted by Det. Lisa Nguyen engraves a vehicle identification number on a car’s catalytic converter as a preventative measure against theft at a free event in 2022.
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
The City Council voted 8-4 Tuesday to tentatively approve an ordinance that would make the violation a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both. The ordinance is scheduled for a second vote in April.
Similar laws have been adopted in other Southern California cities, including Desert Hot Springs, Mission Viejo, Irvine and West Hollywood.
San Fernando Valley Councilman John Lee said LAPD officers have complained that it is “almost impossible to hold catalytic converter thieves accountable for their crimes.” Tracing that device back to its owner and proving that someone who had the device was involved in the theft can be tricky.
Reimer, of Long Beach, who faced the possibility of being without a car throughout her pregnancy, had a mechanic install a catalytic converter that is not approved by the Air Resources Board. California The fix cost him $600, he said, and saved him hundreds of dollars in rideshare fees.
But this summer the vehicle won’t pass the smog test without a Toyota converter. So it will have to go back to the mechanic, assuming the part arrives in time.
